Tickle Chain

We all love the sight of a shrimp boat with its doors spread wide as it pulls the trawl behind it. Nothing beats that sight in the early morning sun or as twilight rests on the horizon, Ain’t nothing like a good shrimp dinner. Ain’t nothing like appreciating the hard work those guys on the shrimp boats do. But there’s another guy out there too, searching for a lighter haul, and he’s out in the sound all by his lonesome hoping to pull in a little bit to sell or feed himself for a short while. Those shrimp taste just as good-he’s working hard too it’s just that he’s  using a smaller net. Both nets have tickle chains and what?! My goodness isn’t that the title for my newest book? Here’s a little excerpt:

It was a gentle night, only light wind, and as it breezed through her hair, Estelle felt the twinge of self confident beauty she had once felt before being marred by the alligator in Florida. She ground her teeth as the angry moment passed and moved forward toward the boats moored along the finger docks.

All was quiet at the marina, at this late hour everyone was either asleep or passed out. All the workers at the marina would have gone home, so Estelle felt safe and inconspicuous as she made her way toward the docks and boats, scanning each to see if something there would fit her agenda. And then she spied the skiff laying sort of cockeyed against a bulkhead, the spongy marsh and its dense salty grasses nearly hid it completely. Estelle hissed gleefully into the thick night air, she couldn’t believe her luck, this abandoned vessel was exactly what she needed and she made her way quickly through the muck to where it lay. The boat held water, so it didn’t have leaks, she surmised. A few tin cans and empty beer bottles floated in the murky water inside it; Estelle tossed them from the boat and whispered, “Nobody is going to miss this thing.”